Device Drivers

Device Drivers are essential for any IoT device. This section outlines how to write device drivers, how driver signing works in Windows IoT Enterprise (different than traditional client signing), and how to add device drivers to images.

How to Write Device Drivers

Windows contains built-in drivers for many device types. If there's a built-in driver for your device type, you don't need to write your own driver. Your device can use the built-in driver. However if you need to write a device driver for your device, use the programming reference for Windows Driver Kit (WDK).

Device Signing

With Windows IoT Enterprise, you have two options on how to get your driver signed off by Microsoft. The first is the traditional client signing process and the second is attestation signing.

Traditional Client Signing

For typical traditional client signing, if you're unfamiliar with the device and driver installation process, we recommend that you start by reviewing Roadmap for Device and Driver Installation. You may also want to read Overview of Device and Driver Installation for a high-level overview of this process and its components.

Attestation Signing

Follow this article to learn how attestation signing works for a kernel driver for public release.

Note

When a driver receives attestation signing, it is not Windows Certified. An attestation signature from Microsoft indicates that the driver can be trusted by Windows, but because the driver has not been tested in HLK Studio, there are no assurances made around compatibility, functionality, etc.

How to Add Device Drivers to Images

With Windows IoT Enterprise, you can add device drivers to a Windows image before, during, or after you deploy the image. When planning how to add drivers to your Windows deployment, it's important to understand how driver folders are added to the image, how driver ranking affects deployment, and the digital signature requirements for drivers. To understand more about how to add drivers, check out the following article, Device Drivers.